VISION & MISSION
YEAR AT A GLANCE
LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR
& BOARD PRESIDENT
FUNDRAISING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
SUPPORTING YOUTH WHERE THEY’RE AT
HELPING YOUTH HELP EACH OTHER
AMPLIFYING YOUNG VOICES &
HELPING OUR COMMUNITY LISTEN
REMEMBERING PAUL ROBERT RIVET:1979-2015
VOLUNTEERS
SECRETARY’S REPORT
OUR SUPPORTERS

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TABLEof
CONTENTS
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Head & Hands’
work is an essential
contribution to
VISION
our shared goal of MISSION
helping every youth
see themselves as
an agent of positive
change in the world
around them.”
OUR VISION:

&

A society in which all youth are participants and are inspired by the endless
possibilities available to them.

OUR MISSION:

To work with youth to promote their physical and mental well-being. Our
approach is preventative, inclusive, non-judgmental, and holistic, with a fundamental
commitment to providing an environment that welcomes youth without
discrimination. We facilitate social change and the empowerment of youth based on
their current needs within our community and society at large.

— Halah Al-Ubaidi, Director, NDG Community Council

HEAD & HANDS 3

SOCIAL SERVICE
for
SOCIAL CHANGE

SINCE 1970, HEAD & HANDS HAS HELPED MONTREAL YOUTH HARNESS THEIR
POTENTIAL TO CREATE HEALTHY, VIBRANT, AND CARING COMMUNITIES. OUR
PROGRAMS AND SERVICES SUPPORT YOUNG PEOPLE IN MEETING THEIR BASIC
NEEDS AND BECOMING EMPOWERED PARTICIPANTS IN SOCIETY, BY:

This past year has been a time of extraordinary accomplishment and healthy change
at Head & Hands.
Since joining the team in June as the new Director, I have had the privilege of
witnessing, and participating in, incredible moments of growth, skills development,
and knowledge sharing within the organization. Energizing conversations about
program structures, organizational development, and budgeting have led to
important insights about our role in the community and our priorities for the
coming year. These reflections have been about getting back to our roots and
focusing on the core of the Head & Hands Mission and Vision. We are also inspired
by a renewed commitment to confront anti-black racism and the impacts of settler
colonialism in our work and in our communities.
Despite a climate of austerity, Head & Hands continues to be in good financial shape
thanks to thoughtful and strategic planning â&#x20AC;&#x201D; planning that we are particularly
proud of as it has allowed us to provide a more equitable compensation system
for our staff team. After a year of hard work, the possibility of moving into the
old Benny Library building is starting to feel close to reality. While the process
of securing the space is ongoing, we are optimistic about the possibility for a new,
long-term home in NDG in the coming year.
We look forward to strengthening partnerships, delivering the support that our
community needs, and leading the way toward social change in the coming year.
To all those who have helped make 2015-2016 a success â&#x20AC;&#x201D; thank you!
Sincerely,

Andrea Clarke

Lex Gill

Director

President of the
Board of Directors

6 HEAD & HANDS

HEAD & HANDS 7

FUNDRAISING
FOR SOCIAL CHANGE

SUPPORTING YOUTH
WHERE THEY’RE AT

As a holistic, grassroots organization, Head & Hands uses

At Head & Hands, we envision a city in which all

a Fundraising for Social Change model that relies on our

youth have what they need to make informed

empowered, engaged community for the financial growth

choices about their well-being. We believe that

and well-being of our organization.

every youth is the expert on what will work for

This past year, over 300 individuals — from clients and volunteers
to neighbours, community members to Head & Hands alumni
— contributed to our fundraising efforts. Ça Marche, our annual
collaboration with the Farha Foundation, raised more than $26,000
with the help of 41 team members fundraising in their networks and
dancing across downtown Montreal. Our other major summer event,
the Serve volleyball tournament, engaged 23 bars and restaurants
from around Montreal, bringing them together for a fun-filled day to
raise funds for the Sense Project.

them, so our services value their perspectives in

Once again, our Solidarity Through Action program, which encourages
schools, student groups, and community members to organize for
Head & Hands, was a huge success! Fundraisers held by community
partners like the Unitarian Church of Montreal, student groups at
universities and CEGEPs around the island, businesses like Chef on
Call, and events like the annual NDG Porchfest raised more than
$3,700 in the last year.
Without the support and love of our larger community, the work that
we do at Head & Hands wouldn’t be possible!

8 HEAD & HANDS

helping them define and implement their own
solutions.
Over the past year, Head & Hands continued to be
a beacon of support for young people, no matter
what issues they faced. Our Health, Legal, and
Social Services reached youth facing barriers, such
as poverty and social marginalization, to accessing
other support. These services worked together
creatively and flexibly to ensure that every person
was heard and helped.

HEAD & HANDS 9

Our Health Services offered quality health care to youth, many of whom
have difficulty accessing support elsewhere. This year, we continued to provide
a full spectrum of financially affordable birth control methods, as well as one of
Montreal’s only informed-consent hormone therapy clinics to transgender youth.
We offered personalized support above and beyond basic health care provision,
making our health services accessible to, and effective for, hundreds of youth in
precarious situations. We advocated for our transgender patients in vulnerable
situations, including incarceration. We saw an increase in youth disclosing their
engagement in sex work, provided holistic and non-judgmental care, and counselled
our medical residents in building trust and effectively supporting youth who engage
in sex work. Finally, we supported several youth without status in Canada with
more complex medical issues, providing primary care and referrals, and liaising with
other clinics to secure appropriate care. We collaborated closely with Médecins du
Monde, a health clinic for people without status. They send youth aged 12-25 to our
clinic, maximizing our respective resources and strengthening the network of care
available in Montreal to people without status.

668 social counselling sessions
provided to individuals, couples,
and families by Rhonda, our
Social Counsellor

Many youth face significant barriers to accessing the limited mental health
resources available in Montreal. This year, our Social Services reached youth and
families for whom other mental health services were inaccessible or inadequate.
By providing a non-judgmental ear and flexible, ongoing relationships, Rhonda,
our Social Counsellor, supported over 300 youth struggling with mental health
challenges, depression, anxiety, isolation, relationships, identity exploration, and
self-development. Our counselling services also continued to be recognized for
leadership in supporting trans youth and their families, with referrals from schools,
universities, and CLSCs across Montreal.

Our Street Work program
filled in the gaps of the existing health
care system by reaching youth facing
discrimination and marginalization,
who often do not feel comfortable
accessing institutional health and social
support. Our Street Work program
provided on-the-spot support to 384
people in NDG. We distributed 7,875
clean injection kits, 298 crack pipes,
and just under 15,000 condoms, as
well as offering 318 active listening
and counselling sessions and providing
life-saving support to youth through 17
suicide interventions.
The lack of bridge services for youth
turning 18, coupled with a severe
shortage of affordable housing and
shelters in NDG, are pressing concerns
for our neighbourhood’s youth.
This year, Sara, our Street Worker,
regularly spent time with youth living in
neighbourhood group homes to build
relationships with youth transitioning
to living on their own. Sara offered
harm-reductive gear and condoms,
animated safer drug use workshops, and
provided counselling on employment
and relationships, among other topics.
She also linked youth to our partners
at the Carrefour jeunesse-emploi,
helping them access a more structured
transition from state care into the
workforce.

14,828: condoms distributed
through our Street Work program
HEAD & HANDS 11

TREND: FOOD SECURITY

Volunteer lawyers provided 305
free legal consultations through
our Legal Clinic, the only one of
its kind in NDG.

We have seen a 198% increase in the
demand for our Emergency Food Pantry
over the past two years, with 160 people
accessing this service this year alone.
This striking increase in demand mirrors provincial trends that
point to increasing reliance on food banks, at a time when food
prices are spiking across Quebec.

This year, our Legal Services supported 210 youth in navigating their legal
challenges. Ralph, our Legal Coordinator, supported youth in navigating the rules
and regulations at school, as many youth came to us this year with challenges like
plagiarism, expulsion due to physical or sexual aggression, and discrimination. We
also supported many youth with cases regarding shoplifting, helping to demystify
shoplifting charges and small claims court. Our 10 volunteer lawyers provided 305
free legal consultations at our clinic, on family, immigration, and criminal law.

We worked to make our services accessible to more youth by addressing some of
the significant physical accessibility concerns at our main office. An accessibility
committee, comprised of staff and board members, a front desk volunteer, and a
community member, was formed out of a need to make our office more physically
accessible. The committee created a set of recommendations, several of which
were implemented this year, including adding a list of allergens to our Food Pantry
baskets, creating signs to inform clients that we can turn off fluorescent lighting upon
request, and adding new resources to our Information and Referral library. In
the coming year, we plan on creating a workshop and accompanying manual about
accessibility, disability, and ableism, and continuing to implement the committeeâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
recommendations.

Our Emergency Food Pantry is a reliable resource for some
of the most marginalized people in our community, because we
are one of the only services that does not require identification
or proof of residence, a prohibitive barrier for youth without a
fixed address or status in Canada. For many of our transgender
clients, being able to access this service using their name, regardless
of whether their name appears on their legal documents or
identification cards, is a relieving experience that validates both
their identity and their basic right to food.

As the first line of service provision in our main office, our Information and Referral
team provided increased active listening, in-depth interactions, and on-the-spot
counselling to over 1,300 clients who called or dropped in to our main office. By
creating a strong point of contact, we continued to build relationships, connect clients
to programs and services, and reduce barriers to accessing support.

Last year, we became an accredited food bank with Moisson
Montreal to help meet this demand. This partnership gives us access
to in-kind donations and fresh produce to bolster our Emergency
Food Pantry, as well as the food security services at our Young
Parents Program (YPP) and Jeunesse 2000 (J2K), our youth drop-in
centre, where access to food continues to be a core client need. We
distributed 14 fresh food baskets monthly at YPP through Moisson
Montreal, and offered weekly community meals and snacks on
Fridays and Saturdays at J2K.

98% of Legal Clinic clients would recommend our
clinic to their family and friends
12 HEAD & HANDS

HEAD & HANDS 13

Photo credit: Stacy Lee | www.stacylee.ca

HELPING YOUTH
HELP EACH OTHER
Every young person should feel inspired by the
endless possibilities available to them. We encourage
youth to lead the way in everything we do, opening
up diverse opportunities for them to experience
their own abilities and shape their communities.
Our drop-in centres, popular education projects,
and volunteer programs develop communities of
peer-to-peer support, connecting youth to break
social exclusion and build mutually empowering
relationships.

Photo credit: Stacy Lee | www.stacylee.ca

“

I used the tools at J2K to
reach further into my life,
to be a better person.”
­— Hervé N. Mugisha (REV)

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25 years of Jeunesse 2000 — that’s 7,500
days of offering a home away from home for
hundreds of youth in our neighborhood!
This year we celebrated 25 years of Jeunesse 2000 (J2K), our youth dropin centre. We went back to basics and focused on the essence of J2K — a home
away from home.Youth told us that they needed a space to be themselves, so our
animators focused on building positive relationships with youth and providing a
space where they felt comfortable asking questions and sharing challenges. This year,
J2K youth asked for support in looking for employment; we offered job-hunting
tips and CV-building support.Youth also came to us with legal challenges and
frustrations after experiencing racial profiling in our neighbourhood, and accessed
emotional support and legal resources at J2K.

JOSHUA’S
JOSHUA’S

“In 2007, I was a freshman in high school and my friends invited me to hang out with them
after class. We strolled down Decarie, and passed by the J2K building. We decided to visit the
centre to play basketball, which was the perfect opportunity to check out J2K for the first time.
I entered the gymnasium and had fun playing basketball with my group of friends.
Over time, I visited the centre more often to hang out and meet great people who radiate
positivity and good influence. Over time, those people would become my good friends. J2K is
a welcoming environment that allows individuals to feel respected. Negativity is non-existent;
there is only positivity and righteousness, as we are all a family. Spreading good vibes, helping
out, and looking out for one another are what J2K is all about — community.”

STORY
STORY

— Joshua, Former J2K participant

“

SPREADING GOOD VIBES, HELPING
OUT, AND LOOKING OUT FOR ONE
ANOTHER ARE WHAT J2K IS ALL
ABOUT — COMMUNITY.

HEAD & HANDS 15

ANTHONY’S
ANTHONY’S
“As a kid, I was taught to stay away from homeless people, and even to fear
them.
A few months into volunteering at the front desk, I was approached by a
homeless man outside my library. He said, “I know you hate me right now,
but do you have a dollar or two?” The certainty in his statement was so
raw and real. Our interaction had a profound effect on me. During my
next shift at the front desk, I had a very thought-provoking and engaging
conversation about this interaction with Devon, the Information and
Referral Coordinator.
Volunteering at Head & Hands has opened up my mind, and, subsequently,
my eyes and ears. At the front desk, I see the realities that some people
face on a daily basis — realities that are often ignored elsewhere. Head
& Hands gave me the tools to interact with homeless people and people
struggling with mental health. As I gain more experience at Head & Hands,
my relationship to people experiencing homelessness has gone beyond just
being more comfortable. I want to do more for this community now, and,
at the very least, hear what they have to say. The stigma toward this group
is a manifestation of the flaws of a system that is failing some of the most
vulnerable members of our society.
Through open-mindedness and a broad mandate, Head & Hands
encourages us to think and talk about important issues. One of
Head & Hands’ greatest successes is creating an environment that
encourages dialogue between different members and communities. Good
communication between groups eliminates prejudice, builds understanding,
and ultimately creates meaningful change. As a Front Desk Volunteer, I
experienced this change first-hand within myself.”

STORY
STORY

— Anthony, 20, Front Desk Volunteer

16 HEAD & HANDS

9: number of
languages spoken
in this year’s group
of Sensies, who
reached 1,001 youth in 16
high schools, group homes,
and community centers across Montreal

“

During a year marked by racialized police violence and the growing Black Lives Matter
movement in the United States and Canada, and after receiving calls from youth of
colour experiencing racial profiling in Montreal, Ralph facilitated a Know Your Rights
workshop at DESTA to help youth share their frustrations and fears. Twenty participants
shared their experiences of racial profiling and the impact of the American media on
these experiences. They discussed the impact of racism on their everyday lives in Canada,
validating their knowledge that racial profiling is not an phenomenon isolated to the
United States. The workshop helped youth connect their personal experiences with
broader patterns of profiling, and recognize the resilience and tools they had to support
each other in surviving the effects of institutional racism.

ONE OF HEAD & HANDS’ GREATEST
SUCCESSES IS CREATING AN
ENVIRONMENT THAT ENCOURAGES
DIALOGUE BETWEEN DIFFERENT MEMBERS
AND COMMUNITIES IN OUR SOCIETY.

Our Front Desk Volunteer (FDV) program blossomed this year; 19
youth were trained to be the front line of Head & Hands. Our volunteers
were empowered to lead projects that allowed their skills to shine, including
spearheading our physical accessibility committee, managing our Food Pantry,
and creating new resources. Our FDVs were instrumental in designing and
administrating aspects of our Information and Referral program, including our
first-ever in-house harm-reductive gear distribution service. These youth took
leadership in developing this new program in response to the shifting community
needs they noticed first-hand at the front desk. Our FDVs acted as a direct
corridor for client feedback to our team, helping us respond adeptly to youth
needs, and holding us accountable to our harm-reductive mandate.

This year, 23 young people became advocates for youth sexual health in their communities
through the Sense Project. These youth, affectionately dubbed “Sensies,” received a
50-hour training equipping them to offer a series of comprehensive, anti-oppressive sexual
education workshops in Montreal high schools, group homes, and community centres. This
year’s training focused on fostering a group of peers who learn and grow together. Sensies
reflected on their positions in society and how their identities affect how they approach
topics of sexuality. These exercises helped expand our notion of a “peer” beyond just age,
to include other peer identities like transgender youth, non-binary youth, immigrant youth,
and youth of colour, and allowed us to respond to specific workshop requests, including
a request for sexual education for LGBT people who have recently arrived in Quebec.
We also focused on creating a consent culture; Sensies were not only trained to facilitate
conversations about consent, they also explored how consent plays out in relationships
beyond just sexual encounters. We added more training and workshop activities about
consent in relationships with friends or siblings, and more examples of how to practice
consent to build self-worth and empowerment.

“

THE SENSE PROJECT GAVE ME
THE TOOLS AND PRIVILEGE TO
TRANSFORM MY LIFE, AND THE LIVES
OF YOUTH IN MY COMMUNITY.

TONI-ANNE
TONI-ANNE
“The Sense Project gave me the tools and privilege to transform my life and the lives of
youth in my community. Head & Hands provided a non-judgmental space to unlearn and
learn all of what I thought I knew about sex. The more I learned, the less I knew. Sex is
complicated and permeates every aspect of our social lives. Being a Sensie allowed me to
create a safer space where youth can learn, ask questions, and seek advice from health
professionals. The Sense Project is an inclusive, thought-provoking learning experience.”

— Toni-Anne, 24, Sense Project Animator

HEAD & HANDS 17

At the Young Parents Program (YPP), 41 parents came together this year to
break isolation, share a hot meal, develop new skills, and support each other. After
Andi, our Parent Animator, left our team to pursue new professional challenges, we
adapted the Parent Animator position to focus on food security and the cooking
program, and hired Laura. Laura supported 8 parents hired as hot lunch cooks,
and supported parents in creating a YPP Cookbook filled with their favourite YPP
recipes and articles on nutrition and grocery shopping on a budget.
Community partners noted this year that the YPP successfully integrates and
engages young fathers, a challenge for many parenting programs. More than 30%
of YPP parents this year were fathers, a high percentage as compared to other
programs. Many programs are aimed at young women, and young fathers can have a
harder time integrating into programs that are perceived as being for mothers. Our
approach makes the YPP accessible to all parents because the activities are designed
by the participants, and each parent has the space to define their participation and
engagement.
Ting and Marnie, our Childcare Educators, provided fun and stimulating
programming to 58 children aged 0 to 5. The trusting relationships that our
Childcare Educators developed with parents gave them a deeper understanding
of the specific family context of each child, and allowed them to hold in-depth
conversations with parents regarding their child’s development. We heard from our
childcare volunteers that our program, and its child-led philosophy, was engaging
and impactful; this year, our childcare program inspired three young volunteers to
pursue careers in childcare.

Over 2,000
visits from
parents and their
children to the
Young Parents
Program...
18 HEAD & HANDS

including 5
new babies
who joined YPP
families this
year!

&

AMPLIFYING
YOUNG VOICES,
HELPING OUR
COMMUNITY LISTEN

We believe healthy communities tell their own stories. We
work to empower Montreal youth to find their voices, so
that they can play their full part in shaping the individual
and collective narratives of their communities. We focus
on making space for those young voices that otherwise go
unheard, and on encouraging our broader community to
listen carefully. This year, we were committed to providing
social services as an integral part of working toward social
justice. Through art, music, and dialogue, we helped the
youth we serve make sense of their personal struggles
within a larger context, and created opportunities for youth
to lead social change.

“

Photo credit: Stacy Lee | www.stacylee.ca

Head & Hands brings an important
perspective to the table — the
perspective of some of the most
marginalized youth in our
community. Head & Hands reaches
youth who wouldn’t necessarily
access general services, and brings
their voices strongly to the table.”
­— Marie-Charles, Coordinator of the NDG Youth Table

HEAD & HANDS 19

CENTERING YOUTH EXPERTISE

For 45 years, we have welcomed youth without judgment and have trusted them
as experts regarding their own situations. This approach gives us access to honest
information about their needs and a privileged understanding of the realities and
challenges that youth face. It allows us to centre youth expertise in everything
we do. This year, the Head & Hands staff team aimed to bring young people’s
realities, stories, and experiences to the forefront of institutional conversations.
By participating in 11 community roundtables, including the NDG Youth Table and
the Batshaw Advisory Committee on Diversity, among others, we worked to share
youth’s perspective, so that decisions can be informed by our city’s youth.
Sara, our Street Worker, collaborated with L’Injecteur, a journal by and for people
who use injection and inhalation drugs, on the English translation of their harmreductive guide to safer drug use. She involved a few of her clients in this work in
order to strengthen the resource based on youth experiences and expertise. From
this collaboration, one of our Street Work clients is now working with L’Injecteur
to give workshops to street workers across Montreal on how to talk to clients
about safer injection practices.
The Sense Project creates space for
Sensies to share their experiences, and
uses current youth realities to inform the
content of workshops and resources. We
received increased demand this year from
schools, summer camps, social workers, and
nurses for training on our unique approach
to youth sexual education. We offered
trainings on our approach to facilitation,
and how we integrate anti-oppression
and anti-racism, feminism, queer and
trans positivity, consent culture, and harm
and risk reduction into our curriculum.
As sexual education in Quebec made
headlines this year with announcements of
a new government pilot sexual education
project, we also advocated for a curriculum
rooted in current youth realities in local
and national news outlets, including Global
TV, CBC Montreal, CBC’s The National, and
the Montreal Gazette.

20 HEAD & HANDS

INSTITUTIONAL ADVOCACY

Our Street Workers are our eyes and ears on the ground for public health. This year,
Sara participated in Batshaw Youth and Family Centres’ committee to address the lack
of accessible housing for youth aged 18-25 who were in out-of-home and/or youth
protection care during their adolescence. For several years, this structural inadequacy
has been a key issue facing NDG youth. Access to housing is a social determinant
of health whose impact is evident and measurable: half of Montreal’s street-involved
or under-housed youth, who are at a higher risk for injection drug use and STBBI
infection, have passed through the youth protection system. Sara is helping to situate
plans for a new youth housing project in the current realities of marginalized youth,
and to ensure the project is both empowering for and responsive to our clients.
We brought our extensive expertise in peer-led sexual education to the provincial
level through our role on the Board of Directors of the Federation du Quebec pour le
planning des naissances (FQPN). Gabrielle, our Sense Project Coordinator, represented
Head & Hands and the diverse youth we serve in responding to the Quebec
government’s sexual education pilot project announced this year. Gabrielle advocated
with the FQPN for a pilot project that includes adequate training for educators as

well as a focus on subjects that need
more attention, such as sex and disability,
trans positivity, intersex realities, gender
expression, and culture and sexuality.
This year, over 50% of Young Parents
Program (YPP) parents were involved
in the youth protection system.YPP
staff supported 4 families in confidently
advocating for themselves within this
system, from helping prepare for meetings
with social workers to writing letters of
support from our childcare program and
testifying in court—skills that transfer to
many other areas of parenting. Parents also
supported each other through this process,
sharing experiences, tips, and emotional
support. Head & Hands has a longstanding
reputation for supporting young families
and is recognized by Batshaw Youth and
Family Centres for the richness of our
non-judgmental, alternative perspective.
Our reputation helped us amplify the
voices of these young families, informing
players within this system of the realities of
being a young family, including the positive
aspects that are often shadowed by stigma
or judgment.
This year, Andrea, our Director, was invited
to speak on behalf of Head & Hands at
the NDG Youth Table about sex work in
our community. We used this opportunity
to recommend a non-judgmental and
harm-reductive approach to the Table’s
efforts in responding to this issue, and
stressed the importance of safe spaces that
offer comprehensive support that resists
judgment or moralizing.

Head & Hands staff sat on
11 community roundtables
HEAD & HANDS 21

ART, MUSIC, AND DIALOGUE

Whether it’s an experience of trauma or discrimination, if you’re struggling in
your day-to-day life, it can be hard to make space to explore those experiences
and feelings. This year, our programs helped young people cultivate their selfexpression by creating multiple platforms to find and share their voices. In addition
to our ongoing music workshops, we held several youth music and art showcases
that brought youth together to hear and experience each other’s stories, and put
politicians, local business leaders, and other community members in touch with
youth realities.
YPP parents led a second successful year of Through Our Eyes, a photovoice
project organized in collaboration with the Atwater Library Digital Literacy Project.
Participants took photographs that captured their lived experiences, as parents,
families, and a community, and organized a successful event to share their work with
the community and raise funds to support the YPP family summer camp. Parents
presented their artwork to our community at the Annual General Meeting in June
2015, and in our neighbourhood through an installation at the NDG Art Hive.
Street Vibes and Do My Ladies Run This, our youth music showcases, once
again created platforms for youth to share their creative work and talent with the
larger community. These events showed us the power of youth using art to testify
to their experiences, break down barriers, and build community.
Ralph, our Legal Services Coordinator, facilitated a copyright law workshop this year
to 10 youth in the music program at Jeunesse 2000. The workshop equipped youth
with practical information to navigate copyright law and distribution contracts, and
life hacks they can apply to other areas of their life. By showing youth that their
creative efforts are valuable, the workshop legitimized their work and their value as
cultural producers.

Just under 400 music creation and
recording sessions offered to youth through
Jeunesse 2000’s drop-in studio, and 2
youth-led community music showcases
22 HEAD & HANDS

“

Do My Ladies Run This was
the perfect setting to kick
off our mission of spreading
awareness on gender and
racial equality.
We need more events where
women, especially women of
colour, can meet, network,
and collaborate, to allow more
young girls to feel inspired to
take the stage. Do My Ladies
Run This did that for us.”

Photo credit: Stacy Lee | www.stacylee.ca

— Sage, Mags, and Naïka of Strange Froots, one of Montreal’s only R&B
groups completely comprised of young women

HEAD & HANDS 23

Remembering

PAUL ROBERT RIVET:1979-2015
Last year, we were extremely saddened to share the news that our dear colleague
Paul passed away suddenly, on April 3rd, 2015. Paul was one of our two Street
Workers, and provided on-the-spot support to NDG youth where, when, and how
they needed it. Paul’s energy, compassion, and joy were both infectious and inspiring.
The loss of this unique and wonderful person continues to be deeply felt throughout
the many communities Paul touched with his light.
Our main offices were closed April 7th-13th, 2015 in order to grieve Paul’s loss and
begin recovering as a team. On May 26th, 2015, we celebrated Paul’s memory and
time with us by gathering with community members to plant seeds around NDG,
in honour of his impact on our neighbourhood. The plants grown from these seeds
helped support and nourish bees, contributing to the well-being of our environment
and our community—philosophies embodied in Paul’s work and our shared approach
to holistic health.
Street Work requires high-risk emotional labour from both Sara and other front-line
workers; this lateral vulnerability is both a challenge and strength of the program. This
work was difficult after the trauma of losing a Street Worker, as we supported our
clients while our team was also grieving. This difficult process led to organizational
learning and healing; in response, we are in the process of creating a new policy on
high-risk emotional labour in the workplace, and we have prioritized ongoing team
conversations around mental health, burnout, and high-risk emotional labour at work.

VOLUNTEERS
Volunteers are an integral part of our organization
— they are truly the heart and soul of Head & Hands.
This year, we benefited from the help of 312 people who gave over 7,800 hours of
their time. Our volunteers worked with creativity and devotion to raise awareness
and support our programs and fundraising efforts. We would like to thank our
volunteers for their colossal efforts that make our programs and services shine!
Here are a few examples of how members of our community have supported our
mission and programs:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•

Tutorial sessions
Legal advice at our legal clinics
Front desk replacement and administrative tasks
Specialized services such as translation, graphic design, photography, and IT support
Preparation for our medical clinics
Childcare at the Young Parents Program
Animation of Sense Project workshops
Workshops for youth at Jeunesse 2000
Support at events

INTERNS

It is our pleasure to work with interns from many different universities and colleges
in the Montreal area. This year, we benefitted enormously from these 4 interns who
gave their time, dedication, and knowledge: Kyle, Patricia, Elaine, and Kim.

As we continue to heal, we hold Paul close to our hearts and remember him through
all of the work we do. In the coming year, we will build our Street Work program
back up to its full capacity by hiring a second Street Worker to join Sara. We will
continue to honour Paul’s memory by offering this essential service with the same
dedication, empathy, and love he brought to Head & Hands and to our community.

TRAC- Travail de rue et
action communuataire
Tracom Crisis Center
Trans Legal Clinic
Unitarian Church of
Montreal
Vanier College
Villa-Maria High School
Walkley Community Centre
Westhaven Community
Center
Westmount High School
Willingdon Elementary
School
Women on the Rise
Youth in Motion